Door-locking systems for storage containers, such as cabinets, for example, that operate with a door-handle mechanism, are well known in the art.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, for example, these mechanisms generally consist of a fixed portion mounted onto the door, in which is inserted a pivoting part which is driven in rotation by a user in order to activate the locking rods. The pivoting part can be actuated only in a clockwise direction and it is brought back to its initial position by means of a torsion spring when the handle is released. A lock can be added in order to prevent the rotation of the central part of the door-handle mechanism, thus blocking the locking rods in the corresponding holes located in the upper part and the lower part of the cabinet. In order to close the door, the handle must be pivoted once again so that the locking rods can be inserted into the holes of the casing.
Also known in the art are the different disadvantages and drawbacks associated with such conventional systems, namely, the fact that they cannot be used in an easy, efficient and/or versatile manner for different applications.
Among other things, the existing systems present one or a combination of several of the following drawbacks: a) the mechanism can only be activated in one single direction (ex. clockwise direction); b) the mechanism must be activated manually once again in order to close the door; c) the manufacturing of locking rod with via bending process is complex and costly; d) vibrations tend to occur in the locking rods when they are used on doors of greater dimensions; e) the difficulty of installing the mechanism in doors that are relatively thin; etc.
Thus, it would be particularly useful to be able to provide an improved system which, by virtue of its design and components, would be able to overcome or at least minimize some of the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art associated with conventional systems.